Three Democratic candidates vying for the seat of County Executive Ed Mangano, a Republican who is currently under federal indictment, will meet for the first time in what the Lakeview and Rockville Centre Democratic Clubs are billing not as a debate, but as a conversation.

Leg. Laura Curran, of Baldwin, who has the backing of the Nassau County Democratic Committee, will meet with fellow candidates Assemblyman Charles Lavine, of Glen Cove, and County Comptroller George Maragos at the forum in Rockville Centre on March 2.

Maragos announced late last year that he had changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and intended to run for Mangano’s seat. He also ran for U.S. Senator in 2012.

Lavine is serving his seventh term as assemblyman in the 13th District.

“[The event] will not be a debate, but a conversation about the welfare of the residents of Nassau County,” the Democratic clubs announced in a release. “This is not a campaign event, but an effort to start the definition of a common base of principles and objectives for governance of the county.”

The public will have the opportunity to ask questions of the candidates and make comments, after five-minute remarks from each candidate and 15 minutes of discussion.

In the letter inviting the candidates, Lakeview Democratic Club President H. Scottie Coads said that they should speak in advance concerning their common objectives, as the intent is not to have a debate.

“We think we, as Democrats who are concerned citizens, can have a cordial discussion as to what is wrong, what is right and what can be,” Coads wrote. “This is of even greater importance within the context of the recent presidential election and what is now occurring in national government.”

The forum will be held at 7:30 p.m. on March 2 at South Side High School in Rockville Centre.